Screening in the Porch

If you have known me and my hubby for any length of time you know there is always something going on in our home. We just can't sit still for long without one of us saying "hey, what do you think about ......." So, Labor Day weekend we decided to screen our small back porch. The porch is 5 1/2 feet by 13 1/2 feet. Yes, small and some would ask why bother. Our back deck area is against the house on two sides and when the sun moves around in the late afternoon the mosquitos come out in force. For the most part they do not bother me much......but Mr. is a mosquito all-you-can-eat buffet!
Yes, we could cover ourselves in bug spray or Avon SOS every time we went outside but neither us want to do that and neither of us are that diligent about anything.

This was the porch before. There is much that could have been done before hand but we decided to just jump in.

The siding is dirty and needs to be repainted-that is a job
for another day (read month or year).



Notice the fancy steps that 11+ years ago we said
we would replace. And I just noticed the roof line! Yikes!

The granite step here is cemented into the porch.

So Saturday Mr.FixIt got busy framing in the porch. Once he got most of the framing up I got busy painting. First I tried an opaque white stain thinking less work in the long run but as I applied it I was not getting the results we were after. We had some exterior ultra white paint in the basement from another project so I used it.

I am always late on the up-take when it comes to pictures. It's like "Oh, yeah! I should have taken pictures of that!" By the time Mr. was almost done screening in it finally dawned on me. I did not take pictures of the unpainted frame! Duh!

See the black strip on the right?

We used product from Home Depot that has black strips you screw onto your frame. Unroll the screen to fit your area and using a splining tool force it into the grooves. When you are happy that it is taught enough cut away the excess and cap the black strip with a white cover. You don't even notice the system. Yay!

Mr. was hot, it was humid outside and so we hooked up the fan to blow right at him. Notice his flip-flops! I do not recommend wearing flip-flops during a construction project. Nobody was hurt during this project (that is unusual for us) but kids do not try this at home.

Sunday was a day of worship and rest.

Monday we completed the project. I don't want to dress this area out too much this year. Next year will be different. For now it is functional. It is a great place to sit and read, have a cup of coffee in the morning or a glass of lemonade in the evening. Two days, a lot of sweat, and no plans-just an idea in my Mr.'s head equals another favorite room to our old home!

We closed in this end and removed the old "stairs".

Indoor/outdoor, two-sided clock/thermometer.

 I love the screen door. The style is a little nod to the old. It is made of vinyl, though! That means that when it gets dirty that all I need to do is grab the hose and spray it down. I don't have to paint it, scrape it, worry about it warping, swelling, ect. Most of all, I love the way it sounds when it shuts. Mr. says that will get old soon but so far I am okay with it.

While we are waiting for that to happen I will make good use of the space and little spare time. While I read and study there is much to draw my thoughts to all that I have been blessed with.

What I keep striving toward....

Linking Up:

Craftberry Bush, Pin Junkie